The widespread increase in the number of wireless devices has increased the demand and the corresponding opportunity for businesses to provide applications, content, and services for various wireless devices.
The limited abilities of wireless devices further complicate otherwise simple tasks. Unfortunately, most wireless devices are plagued by small screens and small or limited keypads which make it cumbersome and difficult to type information. Users often identify themselves to a resource via a username and password, however on a wireless device the entry of a username and password can be a lengthy process. Further, purchases, such as software or applications, are likewise complicated by the limited interfaces of wireless devices. For example, if a user wishes to purchase an application, it can quickly become time consuming and frustrating for a user to enter billing information such as a credit card and billing address via a 10 digit keypad of most cellular phones. Moreover, some wireless devices lack the resources necessary to create secure connections needed for safe and secure purchases.
Businesses further require an efficient and effective way to bill customers for the services or products provided. Often times, each wireless carrier has a proprietary billing platform which requires developers to tailor the software billing system to each carrier. Any changes to the carriers billing system may necessitate substantial changes by developers and thus more work for developers. Furthermore, the various billing platforms may have different abilities with regard to frequency of billing and other billing attributes. For example, a billing platform may not support recurring billing. Such a lack of support may run counter to a software vendor's business model. Thus, efficient and effective selling of wireless applications requires that both user and software developers be able to purchase and charge customers accordingly.
Thus, a need exists for a solution that facilitates the easy purchase of services and software for wireless devices and allows flexibility in the type of billing. What is further needed is an interface for users to easily and efficiently initiate purchases of products and services for the wireless devices without being required to use the limited interfaces of wireless devices.